Over the last few years I’ve been watching Myartisreal growing, gracefully building a new hub for art. Grown by its founder, Jacob Johnson, Myartisreal not only provides online exhibitions celebrating contemporary artists from dark art to street art and everything in between. It also offers limited edition prints and an incredibly personal podcast where Jacob delves into the lives of numerous people are behind the art that we consume. In a special cross-over, Jacob, Founder of Myartisreal, has interviewed the incredible Sara Baun especially for Beautiful Bizarre – and we couldn’t be happier! A dark artist living in Italy, Sara Baun’s deeply emotive animal illustrations merge beauty and gentleness with the dark macabre. Filled with personal symbolism, Sara’s creations share a personal journey.
Read ahead to learn more and discover the meaning behind her new solo show, “A Quiet Scream”, now on at Myartisreal.
Forward by Jacob Johnson, Founder of Myartisreal
I believe these animals are Sara. They may seem cool and a little intimidating on the outside, but inside, they are kind and caring, doing everything they can for their friends and family. They are her emotions laid bare expressed through ink and paper in an attempt to navigate and understand them.
After being so moved by her work and her story, I invited her to do a solo exhibition. I wanted to give her a platform to share her message and art with an even wider audience.
The show is titled “A Quiet Scream” and centers on the importance of standing up for yourself not being so overly kind that others take advantage of you, and, most importantly, speaking up when you need to.
Sara Baun: “A Quiet Scream”
Exhibition opening: 23 May 2025.
Myartisreal
For more information on the exhibition including viewing and purchasing online please visit Myartisreal’s website or email Jacob at jacob@myartisreal.com
Myartisreal interviews Sara Baun
What inspired you to create a body of work centered on self-advocacy and standing up for yourself, especially in contrast to the habit of people-pleasing? Do you find yourself slipping into that pattern often, where you put others’ needs ahead of your own?
Yes, many of my works come from my personal experience, this body of work makes no exception. I struggled and still struggling with putting others’ needs ahead of mine, I find it hard to set boundaries and stand my ground on certain things, whether for old wounds or for being empathetic towards everyone but me. When I realized I was repeatedly abandoning myself and my needs in my relationships for the sake of others, directly affecting my mental and physical health, ending up picking the pieces, I felt the need to try and put it all on paper – along with a lot of therapy (smiles).
Spending so much time drawing about something specific that I want to work on [personally], helps me to stay in that matter. It’s a continuous memo, in a good way, like: “hey, are you doing your homework?”. I feel in a constant flow of thoughts about it; it makes me more aware.
In this series, you used two striking visual elements to express that message: open mouths and a swarm of moths. Can you walk me through the symbolism behind those choices?
Open mouths are quite literal in this case, they’re saying “SPEAK UP”. Stand up for yourself, let your voice be heard, say what you want and need, take up your space, say that thing that bothered or hurt you and do not let the fear of abandonment stop you, those who’ll get mad or leave cause you set a boundary and defended it are simply not meant for you; period.
Moths are a symbol of liberation, that sensation you start to feel when you actually begin to show up for yourself. It’s like a weight is lifted from your chest, from your spirit, and you let all of these things be out there – maybe quietly, even shy at the beginning – progressively louder when you build up courage and get the hang of it. When you stop seeing [these actions] as a selfish act but as a shield that protects your kindness and empathy from those who take advantage of them.
As artists, it’s common to begin by creating purely for ourselves, but as we build careers, there’s often pressure to make work that resonates with an audience. Have you ever caught yourself making work you think others want to see, rather than what you truly feel called to create? Or do you find it easy to stay grounded in your own voice and vision?
I’d say that mostly I stayed grounded in my workflow, although I had some moments where I felt the algorithm’s pressure and produced a bunch of works that I thought would have more of a wow-effect, but I count them on my fingers. The thing is, my brain has a mind of its own on certain things, I figured I cannot always fight it; one of them is to be fuelled by interest, so if I catch myself with a sparkling, new idea in the middle of a piece, I HAVE to follow it, I need to give myself that space, whether I think that it might be appreciated or not.
One example is the human mouths I started my career with. They’re super eye-catching and always helped me getting that extra boost of attention; but I slowly dropped them. I guess they served the purpose, or I simply need to chase something else, for now or for good, so I’m using them only when they have a specific meaning in the artwork, even though they’ve always being appreciated.
I’d love to hear more about the animal subjects you chose for this body of work. Was there a specific significance or symbolism behind the ones you selected for this show?
Foxes and long-doggos have been my favorite subjects for a while now. I love their shapes, their anatomy, to play with movement and gestures, I love their expressiveness and elegance.
The wolverine is known for being tenacious and fierce, for their strength and fearlessness, they fight predators twice their size and are very territorial; since I needed a piece focused on nourishing courage and self-worth and the demonized-but-sometimes-helpful rage, it sounded like the perfect subject for the job.
As for the reindeer, I was on an amazing trip through Norway last summer and I just fell in love with them, I was lucky enough to see them up close, walking unperturbed in the streets among people and it made sense to me fitting them in this body of work. To say that you can stand your ground even if you have a reindeer-like’s soul, which it seemed to be quiet, pacific and calm; it’s something that you don’t need to be loud or angry for. You can, but you don’t need to.
You’ve come so far in your career since taking that dive into being an artist. When you hear from collectors about the impact your work is having, how does that feel? Knowing your art has become part of people’s lives in such a meaningful way.
Sometimes I feel like I still haven’t fully processed how impactful the collectors’ support has been and what it really means to have my weirdos spreading all around the world. The fact that other souls resonate with something I put so much heart and time into is just insanely beautiful.
I have moments when the thought of it all hits me, like hits me, and I find myself almost breathless, definitely speechless. And there’s a little me inside that’s like jumping and giggling for happiness and joy. One of the coolest and rewarding feeling ever, I’ll never stop being grateful for this.
I know you’re always busy with so many projects in the works. Could you share what’s next? What can we expect to see from Sara in the coming year?
I’m also already thinking about ideas for my next solo show at the lovely Antler & Talon Galleries, happening in September. I can’t wait to get into it, and that’s going to be my summer.
It’s been more than a year since I decided that I wanted to learn how to tattoo, I already took the hygiene course in 2024 but still haven’t found the time to practice. So, winter 2025 sounds like a perfect time to face a tattoo machine for the first time and get into it.
And then, there might an artbook in the making between 2025 and 2026, it would be my first!
Want more? Follow Sara Baun and Myartisreal in the links below.
Sara Baun Social Media Accounts
Website | Exhibition | Instagram
Myartisreal Social Media Accounts
Website | Exhibitions | Podcast | Instagram
